BLENNIIDJE. 311 



males. A row of small movable teeth in the gums, and often a 

 posterior curved canine in the lower jaw ; palate almost invariably 

 edentulous. Dorsal fin single ; a notch in some species between 

 the spinous and rayed portions ; ventrals with one spine and two 

 or three rays ; fin-rays simple except those of the caudal, which 

 are usually but not invariably branched. Scales absent. Air- 

 bladder absent. 



In some species the dorsal fin is more distinctly notched in the 

 immature than in the mature. A crest on the head often shows 

 the specimen to be a male, and in these the dorsal fin is some- 

 times comparatively higher than in females. The presence or 

 absence of an orbital tentacle has been considered a sexual dis- 

 tinction. 



Synopsis of Indian Species. 



A. Dorsal fin not distinctly notched. 



a. A crest on the head. Dorsal twice height 



of body 1. S. tridactylus, 



b. No crest on head. [p. 312. 

 a'. Dorsal not continued on to caudal fin. 



No tentacles on head 2. S. swdensis, p. 312. 



Supraorbital, nasal, and nuchal tentacles. . 3. S.fasdutus, p. 313. 

 b'. Dorsal continued on to caudal fin. 

 D. 30, A. 20. Supraorbital tentacles 



simple 4. S.fuscus, p. 313. 



D. 26 (13/13), A. 17. Supraorbital ten- 

 tacles bifurcated 5. S. cmentipinnis, 



B. Dorsal tin distinctly notched. [p. 314. 



a. Height of body but little less than ^ total 



length 6. S. brevis, p. 314. 



b. Height of body less than J total length. 



a'. A row of fringed tentacles along top of 



head 7. S. steindachneri, 



V. A longitudinal crest on head (sometimes [p. 314. 



in males only). 

 a". D. 17/20-23, A. 28-29. Caudal rays 



undivided 8. S. kirkii, p. 315. H 



b". D. 14/22, A. 28. Caudal rays un- 

 divided 9. 8. andersonii, 



c". Dorsal spines not exceeding 13, anal [p. 315. 



rays not exceeding 25. 

 a'". Dorsal fin continued on to caudal. 

 a. No canines. 



Horizortul or oblique light lines on 



dorsals and anal 10. S. quadricomis, 



Narrow oblique dark lines on dorsals, [p. 316. 



none on anal 11. S. lineatus, p. 316. 



Lower half of dorsal with oblique, 



upper with longitudinal stripes. . 12. S. hasseltii, p. 317. 

 Horizontal dark bands on first dorsal, 



oblique on second 14. S. dussumieri, 



. Small canines in lower jaw. [? 318. 



Supraorbital tentacle fringed 17. S. oortii, p. 319. 



Supraorbital tentacle simple 18. 8. bilitonensis, 



[p. 319. 



